The International Air Transport Association (IATA) urged governments to avoid quarantine measures when re-opening their economies.

IATA's director general and chief executive officer Alexandre de Juniac said the association is promoting a layered approach of measures to reduce the risk of countries importing COVID-19 via air travel and to mitigate the possibility of transmission in cases where people may travel while unknowingly being infected.

He said imposing quarantine measures on arriving travellers keep countries in isolation and the travel and tourism sector in lockdown.

"Fortunately, there are policy alternatives that can reduce the risk of importing COVID-19 infections while still allowing for the resumption of travel and tourism that are vital to jumpstarting national economies.

"We are proposing a framework with layers of protection to keep sick people from travelling and to mitigate the risk of transmission should a traveller discover they were infected after arrival," added de Juniac.

-- BERNAMA